Hi,
I'm conducting research to understand the change in service ecosystem at different levels of aggregation. At first, I wanted to take an interpretivism ontological lens with a constructivist epistemological position.
Then when I read about critical realism, I found that it is a better lens to look at a change in service ecosystems.
However, I have a question, what is the epistemological position of a critical realist? I know it gets a bit complicated in epistemology since critical realist criticise epistemological stance as the nature between knowledge/reality in relation to the researcher cannot be pinpointed.
However, for my proposal, I don't want to argue my critical realist position to the nitty-gritty and dig into too many arguments. I want to keep it simple.
Is this possible?
One way of understanding CR's commitment to ontological realism would be via an "inference to the best explanation" or an "abductive" argument. See the sections titled "Critical Realism" and "Explanatory theory building method" in this article:
Article Realist explanatory theory building method for social epidem...
For some general background see:
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/research/current/socialtheory/maps/criticalrealism/
Five main points of critical realism epistemology:
- Critical realism promotes ontological realism. Ontological realism supports that reality exists independently of our perception.
- Reality is stratified. The causal mechanisms or structures give rise to events. Events (perceivable or not) are the second layer of reality. Experience of the events is the third layer of reality and leads to action. Action reproduces or transforms mechanisms/structures.
- To fully grasp reality, you have to access the causal mechanisms/structures.
- Critical realism supports epistemic relativism. Epistemic relativism means that science is not ''bullet-proof'' from value, cultural properties and social conditions.
- Critical realism promotes judgemental rationalism. Judgemental rationalism in critical realism is the process of continually evaluating and proving the truth of a theory with the use of epistemic relativism.
One way of understanding CR's commitment to ontological realism would be via an "inference to the best explanation" or an "abductive" argument. See the sections titled "Critical Realism" and "Explanatory theory building method" in this article:
Article Realist explanatory theory building method for social epidem...
For some general background see:
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/research/current/socialtheory/maps/criticalrealism/
Dear Karl Pfeifer,
Thank you very much for adding an answer to the question; Critical realist ontological position?
Best Regards
Desalegn Abraha
Si es posible.
Recomiendo especialmente al autor Dr. Mario Bunge y su VALIOSO aporte sobre el Realismo Crítico.
A LA CAZA DE LA REALIDAD.EDIT ARIEL EN ESPAÑOL
Espero que tengas respuestas y mas.
Cordialmemte.
Adelmo Romero.
Dear Adelmo Romero,
Please write your message in English otherwise it will be many people who will not understand your message.
Best Regards
Desalegn Abraha
Colega puede traducir mis mensajes utilizando la opción "traducir al inglés"
No es mi idioma y uso el traductor de Resesrchgate
Saludos
Dear Adelmo Romero,
Please write your message in English otherwise it will be many people who will not understand your message.
Best Regards
Desalegn Abraha
Adelmo Romero recommends the philosopher Mario Bunge and his valuable contribution to Critical Realism:
Chasing Reality: Strife over Realism. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 2006.
Bunge is a materialist with a substance ontology and rehabilitates causality. His materialism doesn't include mass and localizability as substantial properties of things. He criticizes Popper's pluralist ontology, his conflation of scientificity with verifiability and the alleged uniqueness of empirical data. Process metaphysics is untenable because processes and events can't be basic categories since they are already dependent from material objects. Furthermore, Bunge talks about systems as wholes with emergent properties, which arise through self-organization and interaction of the elements. There are no absolute values. Moral facts have to be explained by moral agents. By the way, Bunge died this year at the age of 100.
Hi Sam Eltahan,
Critical realism is both an ontology, which consists of stratified reality as follows: (1) empirical - what is observed and experienced, (2) actual - events occuring in space and time independent from the human sensory, and (3) real - causal/generative mechanisms, powers and liabilities of entities/agencies. Critical realism is also a methodology, which follows the process of (1) identification of demi-regularities, (2) abduction, and (3) retroduction.
After this short summary, in critical realism, in terms of ontology, there is a need for a clear explanation for the layers of the reality about your phenomena (this represents your reality in your research, as a critical realist researcher). In terms of epistemology, there is a need for a clear explanation of the knowledge of your causal/generative mechanisms about your phenomena (this represents your epistemology in your research, as a critical realist researcher). That is, in critical realism, ontology determines epistemology. Ontology is not equal to epistemology, in critical realism.
For causal/generative mechanisms - which lead to the empirical findings in your study -, you need to explain the powers-liabilities of entities - which play a role in constituting these mechanisms about your phenomena.
I hope this answer is helpful to you!
For more information about them, I highly suggest the book called "Studying Organizations Using Critical Realism". (2014). Edited by Paul K. Edwards, Joe O'Mahoney, & Steve Vincent.
Dear Kubra, thank you so much for the extensive answer. And the book recommendation.
Dear Kubra Kirca Demirbaga,
I thank you very much for your book recommendation and your detailed and clear answer.
Best Regards
Desalegn Abraha
Dear All Participants and Contributors,
I would like to thank you all for your contributions as I have learned a lot about a subject which I didn't have an idea at all.
Best Regards
Desalegn Abraha
Dear Mr.Prieto,
Thanks for this ideas, Howard Curtis Richards working in a new model of ideas about the Critical Realist ideas applied in the new economy!
Atte. Rodolfo
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